We welcomed the news of a state surplus that might reach more than $700 million by July 2007. A surplus is good news, but what the Legislature does with the money will be the real story.

According to the Associated Press, some ideas stirring about the Capitol for the surplus include new prison construction, college savings grants and lifting the sales tax on groceries.

Mike Huckabee told AP he would encourage a tax break or refund to the taxpayers of Arkansas. While we don't disagree with giving taxpayers a break, we think Huckabee's suggestion is a "hopeful" one.

Arkansas isn't perfect and all states can improve on their current situation, however, we believe the above suggestions to be good ones, we can't help but think about the old cliche, "It takes money to make money."

Infrastructure or the lack thereof has burdened our state for years when trying to land a major industry such as an auto maker.

We now have a state bond option to help in creating infrastructure, but as of yet, no major players have come our way.

Some of our prisons are underfunded and drastically mismanaged, and they do need direction, but utilizing the surplus solely for prison improvements would not be the best we could do.

The best we could do is to invest the surplus in Arkansas' future by devising a plan to make our money make more money and keep this ball rolling.

Arkansas has much to offer prospective industry and residents. The surplus could not only help us tell the story but it could give us an advantage in adding to it.

The topics surfacing from legislators are good ones, but wouldn't be nice to be able to funnel funds to certain "need fixing" issues every year?

Right now, the state is poised to take its first step into the future. What do we want Arkansas to be for our children and for their children? Allocating the surplus will determine how big of a step and in what direction we will go.

This opportunity for the Natural State is a positive one and we encourage residents to share their thoughts with their legislators. We also encourage letters to the editor to share what our readers think could be done with the funds.

As always, call 968-5252 or e-mail editor@couriernews.com with any suggestions or story ideas.